Learning from "Matters of Experience", with Abigail Honor and Brenda Cowan
07/25/23 • 59 min
Three podcast hosts join forces in a single show to discuss the latest in experience design.
It’s a fast-paced three-way session covering half a dozen broad themes, and countless smaller ones. What are we hearing out there? How can we apply it to the work of cultural institutions? Is the biggest creative trend of them all the resurgence of ... empathy?
Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) is joined by the co-hosts of “Matters of Experience,” Brenda Cowan (Professor at SUNY FIT) and Abigail Honor (Founding Partner of Lorem Ipsum Corp) — who share what they’ve learned so far from their own podcast about experience design.
Along the way: a mystery visit, disagreeing with yourself, and cocktails in the arms and armor gallery. In case anyone’s keeping track, this is a podcast about a podcast. (And it would probably be easier to summarize what we didn’t discuss than what we did.)
Talking Points:
1. Breaking Down The Silos (The purpose of “Matters of Experience”)
2. Cross Pollination (The people we interview)
3. Immersion, AI, and Empathy (The trends we are finding)
4. Experience Designers at the Table (It’s not all about architecture)
5. Collections, Repatriation and Provocation (What is happening with objects)
6. Being Playful, Seeing the Larger Context, and Owning It (Takeaways for listeners)
Guest Bios:
Abigail Honor, co-host of the podcast “Matters of Experience”, is a founding partner of Lorem Ipsum Corp. She is a curator and experience designer of award-winning exhibits such as The Warmth of Yamal, Zoya Museum and Zaradye Park and has worked with world-renowned international museums and foundations, including, the Smithsonian Museum and the V-A-C Foundation. Abigail has partnered with corporations including Verizon 5G, Google, and Snapchat and has spoken at global conferences like the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, MuseumNext, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts about museum design, visitor experience, and multimedia. Abigail graduated from Boston University with an MFA in film production.
Brenda Cowan, co-host of the podcast “Matters of Experience”, is a Professor and former Chairperson of Graduate Exhibition & Experience Design at the SUNY/Fashion Institute of Technology in New York where she teaches exhibition development and evaluation; object and museum studies; research methodologies and audience studies. Her background includes work for museums and design firms in education, exhibition development, and research. Brenda is a Fulbright Specialist in the disciplines of museums, objects and mental health. Her research work with museum objects, mental health and healing has been presented for the American Alliance of Museums; Museums of Hope; MidAtlantic Association of Museums; Sweden’s National Museums of World Culture; CoMuseum Athens; the American Association of State and Local History Leadership Institute; and published with Routledge, Taylor & Francis, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, and the Society for Experiential Graphic Design.
About:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.
This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Podcast: Matters of Experience
https://loremipsumcorp.com/matters-of-experience/
Abby via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailhonor/
Abby at Lorem Ipsum:
https://www.loremipsumcorp.com
Brenda via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-cowan-01bb94140/
Brenda / Museums, Health, and Wellbeing: Museum Projects
https://www.psychotherapeuticobjectdynamics.com/for-the-museum-community
Brenda / New Book: Museum Objects, Health and Healing
Brenda / Research: Psychotherapeutic Object Dynamics
www.psychotherapeuticobjectdynamics.com
Show Contact:
Three podcast hosts join forces in a single show to discuss the latest in experience design.
It’s a fast-paced three-way session covering half a dozen broad themes, and countless smaller ones. What are we hearing out there? How can we apply it to the work of cultural institutions? Is the biggest creative trend of them all the resurgence of ... empathy?
Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) is joined by the co-hosts of “Matters of Experience,” Brenda Cowan (Professor at SUNY FIT) and Abigail Honor (Founding Partner of Lorem Ipsum Corp) — who share what they’ve learned so far from their own podcast about experience design.
Along the way: a mystery visit, disagreeing with yourself, and cocktails in the arms and armor gallery. In case anyone’s keeping track, this is a podcast about a podcast. (And it would probably be easier to summarize what we didn’t discuss than what we did.)
Talking Points:
1. Breaking Down The Silos (The purpose of “Matters of Experience”)
2. Cross Pollination (The people we interview)
3. Immersion, AI, and Empathy (The trends we are finding)
4. Experience Designers at the Table (It’s not all about architecture)
5. Collections, Repatriation and Provocation (What is happening with objects)
6. Being Playful, Seeing the Larger Context, and Owning It (Takeaways for listeners)
Guest Bios:
Abigail Honor, co-host of the podcast “Matters of Experience”, is a founding partner of Lorem Ipsum Corp. She is a curator and experience designer of award-winning exhibits such as The Warmth of Yamal, Zoya Museum and Zaradye Park and has worked with world-renowned international museums and foundations, including, the Smithsonian Museum and the V-A-C Foundation. Abigail has partnered with corporations including Verizon 5G, Google, and Snapchat and has spoken at global conferences like the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, MuseumNext, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts about museum design, visitor experience, and multimedia. Abigail graduated from Boston University with an MFA in film production.
Brenda Cowan, co-host of the podcast “Matters of Experience”, is a Professor and former Chairperson of Graduate Exhibition & Experience Design at the SUNY/Fashion Institute of Technology in New York where she teaches exhibition development and evaluation; object and museum studies; research methodologies and audience studies. Her background includes work for museums and design firms in education, exhibition development, and research. Brenda is a Fulbright Specialist in the disciplines of museums, objects and mental health. Her research work with museum objects, mental health and healing has been presented for the American Alliance of Museums; Museums of Hope; MidAtlantic Association of Museums; Sweden’s National Museums of World Culture; CoMuseum Athens; the American Association of State and Local History Leadership Institute; and published with Routledge, Taylor & Francis, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, and the Society for Experiential Graphic Design.
About:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.
This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Podcast: Matters of Experience
https://loremipsumcorp.com/matters-of-experience/
Abby via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailhonor/
Abby at Lorem Ipsum:
https://www.loremipsumcorp.com
Brenda via LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-cowan-01bb94140/
Brenda / Museums, Health, and Wellbeing: Museum Projects
https://www.psychotherapeuticobjectdynamics.com/for-the-museum-community
Brenda / New Book: Museum Objects, Health and Healing
Brenda / Research: Psychotherapeutic Object Dynamics
www.psychotherapeuticobjectdynamics.com
Show Contact:
Previous Episode
Behind the Scenes at "Exhibition" Journal, with Ian Kerrigan
What if there were a high-quality, peer-reviewed journal for the whole exhibition community? What if it featured the leading organizations, practitioners and ideas that shape the whole industry? What if back issues for the past 30 years were available — for free to see online, right now?
“Exhibition,” the Journal of Exhibition Theory & Practice, published by the American Alliance of Museums, is all those things. But who makes it? What has it taught us? And what’s coming next?
Ian Kerrigan (Managing Editor of “Exhibition” and Senior Vice President for Exhibitions at National September 11 Memorial & Museum) joins Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to go “Behind the Scenes at Exhibition Journal”.
Along the way: 1001 inventions, how fun helps even serious subjects, and why sometimes you might need to change your name.
How to Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL21ha2luZy10aGUtbXVzZXVt
Everywhere
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Talking Points:
1. Big Ideas on Small (or Smaller) Budgets (Spring 2023)
2. Effective Exhibitions Should _____ (Fall 2022)
3. Putting Children First (Spring 2022)
4. Beyond the Walls (Fall 2021)
5. Crisis & Resilience (Spring 2021)
6. Making Space for Fun in Museum Exhibitions (Fall 2020)
7. Can Exhibitions Save the Planet? (Spring 2020)
Guest Bio:
Ian Kerrigan is Senior Vice President for Exhibitions at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York where he oversees exhibition development, design, and installation of the institution’s award-winning projects. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Museum Studies Program at New York University and serves as the Managing Editor for Exhibition, a journal of exhibition theory and practice published by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). He is also a federal grant reviewer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Arts, and a peer reviewer for the AAM’s Museum Assessment Program.
About “Exhibition”:
If you or your museum produces exhibitions, you’ll want to know about Exhibition, the peer-reviewed journal published by AAM with the leadership of Ian Kerrigan as Managing Editor and Jenny-Sayre Ramberg as Exhibits Newsline Editor, serving volunteer terms through December 2024, and Editor Jeanne Normand Goswami. Each issue is packed with insights on the latest developments in museum exhibition practice and award-winning designs. Published twice a year, Exhibition offers more than 100 pages of thought-provoking articles, exhibition critiques, and commentary, technical articles, and essays. Each issue is organized around a theme, such as the power of words, exhibitions and universal design, innovation and community relevance and new media in exhibitions.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Contact Ian Kerrigan at:
www.linkedin.com/in/ian-kerrigan-10363420
Subscribe to Exhibition journal at:
www.aam-us.org/programs/exhibition-journal
View past issues of Exhibition journal at:
www.name-aam.org/past-issues-online
Feasibility Report template from Spring 2021 issue article “Real Talk: Assessing Feasibility with Collaborative Teams” by Emily Saich and Joey Scott from the Monterey Bay Aquarium at:
Resource list from Spring 2021 issue essay “Museum Remedy: 15 Resources for Museums Through a Lens of Racial Equity” by Monica O. Montogomery at:
Show Contact:
Next Episode
The Visitor Engagement Lifecycle, with Samir Bitar
What if the best way to market an exhibition — wasn't marketing?
What do we need to do better to help visitors find us in the first place? When they do, how do we engage them? When visitors arrive at our institutions, do they know where to go? What happens to the visitor's experience when we haven't thought enough about the restrooms, the stairs, or the endless line to get something to eat? Why do cultural institutions struggle with following up with visitors after they visit?
Visitor experience expert Samir Bitar (The Art of Consulting) joins host Jonathan Alger (C&G Partners) to discuss The Visitor Engagement Lifecycle. Along the way: empathy training, why our technology ideas might not be what our visitors want, and how every project could use a visitors' advocate. (And the answer to that question about marketing.)
Talking Points:
Five main phases occur, spread along a journey before, during and after a visit.
For a visual, think of these phases arranged along a circle, not a straight line.
Phase 5 leads back to Phase 1, in a continuous cycle.
Pre-Visit:
1. Discover: Visitor is gathering information.
2. Engage: Visitor is actively planning a visit, getting tickets, calling ahead.
During Visit:
3. Arrive: Visitor arrives on site, looking for orientation and direction.
4. Experience: Visitor does the experience, uses amenities, makes purchases.
Post-Visit:
5. Followup: Visitor signs up for emails, gives feedback, becomes a member.
Phase 5 now leads back to Phase 1.
Guest Bio:
Samir Bitar is a customer experience advisor, lecturer, and keynote speaker who helps organizations focus on the experiences of the people they serve. As the inaugural Director of Visitor Experience for the Smithsonian Institution he led a revitalization of the visitor experience across galleries, museums, and a zoo. In doing so, he helped transform an organization’s relationship with its visitors. During his tenure, Samir pioneered the use of visitor journey mapping in museum planning and design, published a watershed study of visitors' museum experience, and produced the award-winning Hirshhorn Eye mobile app. In 2018, Samir stepped down from his position to open the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, and in 2019, founded The Art of Consulting. Through his firm, Samir works with organizations to embed new capacities that lead to a customer experience transformation.
About:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger.
This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at:
http://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Show Links:
Samir’s Website:
http://theartofconsulting.org
Samir’s Email:
Show Contact:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Newsletter:
Like the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter! (It’s the best way to know when a new podcast episode goes live.) Making the Museum is also a very short daily newsletter on exhibition planning for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. Subscribe here:
www.makingthemuseum.com
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/making-the-museum-251869/learning-from-matters-of-experience-with-abigail-honor-and-brenda-cowa-31884415"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to learning from "matters of experience", with abigail honor and brenda cowan on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy